Release week Oct 2, 2006: Population

Standards

• Math: Students will record and tally as many people they can find listed in the newspaper.
• Social Studies: Students will take a census in the classroom.

Activities

• Use the News: Population is the number of individuals in a location. Have a contest to see which group or student can tally up the highest number of people listed in the newspaper. For example, each individual in an article can be added, a soccer team of 14 could be added, and, if a city is mentioned, its population could be added, etc. Each entry should be recorded on a list, including the newspaper section and page it was found on.

• Take a census of your classroom. Brainstorm some ideas on possible categories you can include in your census, such as age, gender, family size, favorite color, dog owner, etc. The answers could be given anonymously if necessary, tallied and entered on a chart. A bar graph could then be created displaying the information.

• Compare the 10 largest-population countries with the 10 smallest-population countries. Each country could be assigned to a group or individual for research and a brief report. After all the reports are presented to the class, have a class discussion about what similarities and differences there are between them. Are they rich or poor countries? Are they having any internal or international conflicts?

World of Wonder meets many state educational standards. This guide helps teachers identify standards and related activities generally intended for grade 6, but teachers can modify activities to the appropriate grade level.